PowerBook G4 boots with display on, then turns off (every time)

[sdfox7]

Has anyone seen this issue before? It's a 2001/2002 PowerBook G4 Titanium. Every time I boot/reboot the computer, the display turns on, but once it boots it turns off. Very strange!

 

[Bigwaff]

Every time I boot/reboot the computer, the display turns on, but once it boots it turns off. Very strange!

Over time, the thermal paste and heat dissipation of these models becomes ineffective. When the GPU gets too hot, it shuts down. You should try opening up the case, blow out all the dust, and clean the fans. Others have applied new thermal paste.

 

[za9ra22]

Which version of MacOS, and how long after it has booted? If it runs a few minutes then it may be overheating as suggested, but if it happens immediately after it has booted, it is less likely to be that, and more likely to be something like a system setting or compatibility issue.

 

[eyoungren]

Has anyone seen this issue before? It's a 2001/2002 PowerBook G4 Titanium. Every time I boot/reboot the computer, the display turns on, but once it boots it turns off. Very strange!

Can you clarify what turns off when it boots? The Mac itself or the display?

I had this happen on a 17" AlBook once (the display turned off after boot). Turns out I'd had a monitor connected that I designated as the primary display while running the Mac in clamshell mode. The resolution on that monitor was higher than the resolution on the laptop's LCD. So when I booted it, it was sending signal at a higher resolution to a monitor that was no longer connected. Result - Mac was on, but display was off after boot.

 

[sdfox7]

Thank you all. Screen seems to be staying on now but I'll look at the thermal paste. Wondering if it was just because I haven't used the machine in a while.

Edit: Tiger 10.4.11 with 667MHz and 1GB RAM.

 

[ojfd]

When was the last time you cleared PRAM?